A standoff between two rival Heathrow Airport expansion campaign groups has been captured on video.

A meeting led by pro-expansion campaigners Back Heathrow , where residents were in discussion about the future of Heathrow, was gate crashed by protesters from anti-Heathrow expansion group Plane Stupid.

Back Heathrow accused protesters of hijacking the meeting and intimidating pensioners with their stunt at the Dominic Centre in Southall, last week.

Video footage captured the anti-expansion campaigners barging in and disrupting the gathering by holding up a banner reading 'Deathrow: The real climate criminals'.

Residents had been talking about Heathrow and the benefits of the airport’s expansion to the west London community.

The moment Plane Stupid Protesters interrupted the Back Heathrow meeting

Shafick Emmambokus from Cranford who attended the meeting, said: “We were all there to hear about Heathrow’s plans for a new runway because we understand how important expansion is for jobs and investment in west London.

“The meeting started nicely enough then the protesters began shouting and tried to take over. They turned the atmosphere really nasty and some of the pensioners and children felt intimidated.

“People were there just to listen and talk about Heathrow. The protesters didn’t want to discuss anything, they only wanted to shout people down and condemn them for caring about local jobs.

"Fortunately it didn’t last long and we soon managed to reclaim the meeting.”

'We offered them a cup of tea'

The two sides were seen shouting at each other for several minutes before the protesters left and the meeting continued as planned.

A spokesperson for Plane Stupid said: “Back Heathrow are an astroturf group who are funded by the airport to advance their goal of enriching Heathrow’s owners.

“This includes holding meetings at which they mislead local residents about the supposed benefits of expansion and downplay the environmental damage and health risks to local people from illegal levels of air pollution.”

Plane Stupid accused Back Heathrow of passing off its core supporters as ordinary members of the public to give the impression more people support expansion than is actually the case

Back Heathrow campaign director Rob Gray added: “These protesters are entitled to their opinions but they are not entitled to hijack a peaceful meeting just because local people disagree with them.

“When they first arrived we asked them to behave respectfully and we offered them a cup of tea because we wanted the meeting to be a civilized debate where everyone could voice their opinions.

“Plane Stupid has clearly lost the argument if they have resorted to bullying tactics at a peaceful residents’ meeting.”